As debates about repatriation of cultural objects rage across Europe, Belgium said Saturday that it would transfer ownership of hundreds of objects from the Democratic Republic of Congo that were illegally added to its national holdings. The promise to do so is a major step in a country where conversations about histories of colonialism have historically been given less weight.
Promised by the new Belgian government, which took office in October 2020, this is said to be the country’s start to dealing with its colonial past in Congo.
Thomas Dermine, Belgium’s state secretary of scientific policy, was the author of the proposal. According to Dermine, the next step is to call for an official bilateral agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo, to take a coordinated and shared approach to the question of objects acquired in an illegitimate manner during the colonial era.
“The question is not whether they should stay in Belgium. They don’t belong to us,” Dermine said during a press conference in Brussels.
The artifacts will be stored at the International museum that opened in Kinshasa in 2019.T
he largest repository of objects stolen in a colonial context is at the Royal Museum of Central Africa at Tervuren. The museum acknowledges in a statement on its website that “it is not normal for such a large part of African cultural heritage to be found in the West.”
An In-depth Look At The Influence Of African Culture On Rio Carnival In Brazil